one step at a time
by queen-sheep
Summary: Written for The Original Horcrux. i. Hermione tastes true defeat for the first time, and in the unlikeliest of hands ii. Ron likes having quiet moments to himself; to rest, to think, to contemplate
1. Chapter 1

_For The Original Horcrux. I know I promised you a multichapter, but I couldn't seem to make it.. I'm really story! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this instead and I sincerly hope you have a wonderful birthday!_

* * *

Hermione first hears of chess in grade school while watching her classmates attempt to hold a chess competition. But the game is hard to understand, so they soon give up; leaving Hermione to wander over in curiosity and push the pieces around a bit.

That night, she demands to learn it.

Her father, who was once a reigning chess champion, is delighted and wastes no time in showing her the board and teaching her the rules. Hermione, although young, is clever and determined. She spends the next couple hours with her father learning the ropes and tricks, the pieces and names. After an initial bout of struggles, she soon catches on and both she and her father cheer in delight.

The next day, she wakes up bright and early, rushing to school with a skip in her step. At break, she immediately goes and pulls the chess board out of the games cupboard and proudly shows it to her classmates.

"I know how to play!" She declares.

They stare at her, exchanging uneasy glances. Vaguely, they nod in her direction and drift away, whispers of "show off" and "know-it-all" reaching her ears. Slowly, the game slides from her numb fingers and drops to the ground. Almost robotically, she bends to pick it up, and places it neatly back into the cupboard.

She never mentions it again.

The first time Hermione hears of Wizarding Chess is in their first year of Hogwarts. Sitting in the comfy armchairs near the fireplace reading, all she can hear is the occasional sound of what seems like clay breaking, followed by cheers or groans. She snaps her book shut in irritation, planning on storming over to the group gathered around one of the tables and giving them a piece of her mind.

However, once she's finished pushing through the crowd, all she can do is watch in fascination at Parvati and Lavender and the moving chess pieces. All at once, the game is over and Parvati is victorious. Lavender lets out a defeated moan, and slumps in the chair. The crowd around them is starting to disperse when words fall from her mouth.

"Can I play?"

The two girls freeze. The crowd also stops in their tracks and move closer again, wondering if there's going to be a confrontation. Instead, Lavender sends her an uncertain nod and moves from her chair. Parvati sets up the game again, and off they play.

Hermione, dull and rusty, loses the first match. But she pulls herself together again and, recalling her father's advice from so long ago, absolutely refuses to lose the next game.

True to her personal goal, she wins the next game. And the next, and the next, and all the ones after that. Hermione has found her rhythm and nothing is going to stop her.

It's at this time when Hermione is drunk with victory, that Harry and Ron come back to the common rooms. They spot the huge group of people crowded around the table and, exchanging glances, wander over in curiosity.

Hermione spots them first.

"Harry! Ron!" She calls. "I'm playing Wizarding Chess! Isn't it just wonderful?" Before her is another defeated opponent.

She ignores him and turns to Harry. "Would you like to play Harry?"

The crowd is immediately alive with cheers and encouragement as people suddenly surge forward to have a first class viewing of a showdown between the Boy-who-Lived and an undefeated Hermione.

Harry shifts uncomfortable and is looking anywhere but Hermione and the people gathered. "I, er, don't know how to—"

"That's fine! I can teach you if you want!" Hermione presses forward, not noticing his growing apprehension.

"Bloody hell Hermione, he doesn't want to play," Ron cuts in, looking annoyed. "If you want to play so badly, _I'll _be your opponent." Harry sends him a relieved look, and Ron gives him a you-better-be-grateful-for-this look back.

The room falls silent as Ron takes his seat in front of her.

Hermione seems at a loss of what to do. "Um, sure, I guess. If you want…" She sets up the board again.

The room starts to recover from its shock, and some people start to disperse in disappointment. Fred and George however, see this as a fantastic money making opportunity and start making rounds of the people and gathering bets. Naturally, all the bets are on Hermione. The twins grin in delight and put in three galleons each on Ron. This, of course, earns them some odd glances, but they shrug it off.

And then, with little dilly-dallying, the game starts.

There's nothing particularly exciting about this particular game compared to the others. Hermione makes quick moves, so confident in her victory that she doesn't really think. She misses the calculating look in her opponents eyes, his careful thinking before each move, the slight smirk playing at his lips.

As she moves to a path that will assure her victory, Ron swoops in from behind and claims it as his. In the thundering silence ringing in her ears, Hermione isn't thinking at all. He was planning this all along, she realized. Manipulating her to think that she would win, when he was in control the whole time.

This, she thinks, is true defeat.

It's her first taste of humility brought upon by others, and it tastes very, very bitter.

But then she sees in her field of vision a hand, and she looks up to see Ron's relaxed face.

"That was a good game," he says.

Hermione stares up at him, and then takes his hand. "It was," she acknowledges, "But I'll beat you next time."

He smiles at her then, a crooked smile that makes her dizzy briefly.

"I look forward to it."


	2. Chapter 2

_Just a little something extra! I was originally planning on making a series of vignettes, and this was one of them, but the chess story suddenly grew to a oneshot and this one was pushed aside. Hope you like it!_

* * *

There's something beautiful about the world in the little moments between midnight and dawn, where time flows sluggishly or doesn't seem to exist at all. It's here that Ron finds himself lying on the cool stone of the Astronomy Tower, watching the stars and thinking and contemplating. It's been a bit of a hectic night for him, and the deafening silence surrounding him is like a comforting blanket. It's a force of habit from his younger years, where he would hide out in the attic alone; because there is a limit to the amount of activity and excitement he can handle in a day.

He finds his thoughts drifting over to Hermione, as they have been wont to do for the past couple of months. (Or was it years? He can't quite pinpoint when this obsession started.) Closing his eyes, he can picture how she looked tonight at the Yule Ball; all dressed up, face flushed in excitement and happiness as she dangled off the arm of Krum. His stomach churns briefly in anger, and something else, but he feels it quickly slip away in the serenity of the night.

Unbidden, a quote drifts through his mind. "Anyone can love a rose, but it takes a great deal to love a leaf. It's ordinary to love the beautiful, but it's beautiful to love the ordinary."

Ron finds it oddly fitting. It suits Hermione, he thinks.

He knows how insecure she feels about herself– can see it in her eyes, because it's something he's experienced his whole life. He knows that tonight was perhaps the only time she's received shocked, appraising looks. The one time she had the opportunity to be the rose, instead of the leaf.

He prefers her as a leaf though. Ron likes the strong, short-tempered, brilliant Hermione better than the shining jewel she portrayed herself as that night. (A weird feeling grows throughout him at the word 'like', and he promptly ignores it.)

And maybe, sometime in the future, when he's gotten over his own insecurity, he'll build up the courage to tell her that. For now though, he'll laugh, and learn, and _live_ to his full capacity.


End file.
